Blue Hill fairgoers donate Katrina relief funds

BLUE HILL – Fairgoers at the Blue Hill Fair were digging deep over the weekend to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The last-minute effort began Friday at the fair, and by the start of business on Sunday, donations already were into the thousands of dollars, according to organizer Anne Piazza.

“It’s really been amazing, the outpouring,” Piazza said Sunday. “From kids scraping out the last pennies from their pockets to people stopping and writing checks, it’s going to add up.”

Piazza said she thought of the fair as a venue for raising funds after watching coverage of the devastation in the South.

“I just started thinking that there had to be something we could do to help,” she said.

By Thursday night, Piazza had received approval from fair officials and from the American Red Cross. Although most of the good spots were taken, fair officials found an open spot near one of the entrances, and people have been coming by ever since.

Piazza said she sent an e-mail to local schools, churches and hospitals, and volunteers started to sign up to spend time at the booth.

“I’ve been getting calls from people I know and from people I don’t know,” she said. “They all want to come and help.”

Piazza is searching for a sponsor or sponsors who will match the amount raised at the fair. It can be a business or an individual, she said.

“We just want to make the most of it,” she said.

The fundraising effort will run through the end of the fair at 10 tonight.